On Wednesday, a $3 million research
contract by the Department of the Defense with a California-based
company was announced that will ultimately to leverage technology that
could turn ordinary smartphones into biometric scanners.

The company AOptix announced in a press release
that the DoD would use its Smart Mobile Identity platform, tailored to
the requirements needed of the agency for identity verification purposes
in the field.

A
smartphone system like this could replace HIIDE, which is the bulkier
system used in the field now to take biometric scans. (Photo: Business
Wire)

Wired’s Danger Room was alerted to more ins and outs of the DoD’s potential uses
for the technology. The eye-scanning, finger-print taking and voice
recognition-type features would not be embedded in the phone but, as
Wired put it, “it’s a peripheral that wraps around the phone.”

This addition is reported to weigh less
than a pound with the phone, won’t interfere with typical phone
functions and is operational with one hand, which Wired pointed out is
an improvement upon the current Handheld Interagency Identity Detection
System (HIIDE). HIIDE has been used to collect biometric information on 10 percent
of the Iraqi population, and, although troops are continuing to pull
out of the Middle East, we can only assume such data will continue to be
collected.

Here’s more from Wired about the improvements this system could have over HIIDE:

Smart Mobile Identity has
limited ability to record biometric data at a distance, but its specs
outperform the HIIDE camera. It scans faces at up to two meters away,
irises from one meter, and voice from within the typical distance from a
phone. Thumbprints will still require a finger against the reinforced
glass face of the phone. Joey Pritikin, another AOptix executive, says
that an additional advantage of the system is its ability to capture an
iris in bright sunlight, which is a challenge for HIIDE and other
biometrics device. Apparently the system will also be able to snap an
image of someone’s face or eye once the phone running the software
focuses on it, without a specific click, swipe or press.

United
States Army Sgt. Sean Henry, of Belleview, Wash., records finger prints
of village resident Abdul Manan with a Hiides camera system while on
patrol Thursday, May 6, 2010, in Afghanistan. (Photo: AP/Julie Jacobson)

The Wired stated that the contract
involves two years of research, at the end of which the DoD will receive
the hardware and software.

“Users of these systems in-field will
benefit from a more compact, lightweight, versatile and accurate
identity verification device than has previously been available,” Dean
Senner, chairman and CEO of AOptix, said in a statement.
“We are especially pleased to be working with CACI, leveraging its
experience deploying sophisticated solutions for government agencies.”